Posts tagged history
Going Live Soon!
Apr 26th
It’s been a very sparse nine months at MUVE Forward; other things have been keeping me busy as my institution crept slowly toward entering Second Life with a formal presence. With that presence approaching in the next couple of weeks, I hope to return to regular posts in this space.
We have two significant Second Life projects that are in the early planning and development stages; both will use an island which are due to arrive within the next week or so. Yes, two islands.
The first project has been dubbed the “Instructional Project” and More >
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Loading ...Maldives Opens First SL Embassy
May 23rd
According to the Middle East Times , Maldives (a small island country in the Indian Ocean) opened the first virtual embassy in SL. Maldives foreign minister Abdulla Shahid said that the virtual embassy
offers another channel for us to provide information on the country, to offer our viewpoint on issues of international concern, and to interact with our partners in the international community.
For educators, virtual embassies coming online in Second Life (Sweden’s is expected in the next week or so) offer a range of potential opportunities:
- Simple research regarding countries via virtual field trips to embassies and/or interaction with embassy representatives.
- Language study and practice through conversations on SL embassy properties.
- Case studies of international political issues through live, virtual question and answer sessions with embassy representatives.
- Role playing based upon research conducted via virtual embassies (anyone else ever play or dabble in Diplomacy or NationStates?)
I know embassies currently offer materials to inform the world citizen regarding their country – which could be classified as an “education” department within the embassy, but how many embassies currently support education through specific curriculum designed to support political science, geography, world history or language instruction?
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Spaceport Bravo
Apr 29th
Spaceport Bravo, to accompany the International Space Museum’s original Spaceport Alpha, has been launched (no pun intended) in Second Life. SL Insider has more specific details about events surrounding the launch.
Just checking around the two locations, the piece that caught my attention was the “walk-in” lunar module, which the picture here depicts. I’m not certain if these feature is new or not, but it’s the first time I’ve noticed it. While future applications of SL may allow avatar-LEM interaction, even the simple ability to “walk inside” a mock up of the lunar module is interesting. The planetarium also provides the opportunity to “view the universe.”
Further, some of the events surrounding the official opening of the location are fantastic educational opportunities as well – particularly, from a history and science perspective, the special lectures.
Lectures will include special lectures by Prospero Frobozz ( Dr. Robert A. Knop Jr. in real life) entitled “The Power of the Dark Side : How we know that the Universe is filled with Dark Matter and Dark Energy”, Troy McLuhan, ISM Director, who will tell the story of Alan Shepherd, Kat Lemieux, ISM President, who will speak on the History of the ISM, and Patio Plasma, Director of the Splo Museum in Second Life and Planetary Physicist in real life, who will give a presentation titled “Roving Mars: What is it like to be on the surface of the red planet?”
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Language Learning: Zon the New Chengo Chinese
Feb 1st
Zon: The New Chengo Chinese is an educational MUVE themed environment designed to teach users about Chinese culture and how to speak Mandarin. I first read about Zon in a TerrNova blog by Lisa Galarneau; she offers a good summary of the application, and it’s an interesting read. I also found information about the MUV at Michigan State’s Confucius Institute – one of the project’s collaborators – and via several news sources as well.
Are there themed regions/sims/islands already existing in Second Life that serve the explicit purpose of teaching particular ethnic cultures and languages? I’ve not yet encountered any such spaces in SL, personally, but it will certainly be exciting to watch those spaces develop. They are sure to come. Imagine, as a first year college student studying Spanish . . .
You’ve struggled a little bit during class to engage classmates effectively in Spanish dialogue; you need more practice thinking, speaking and writing in Spanish. In the evening, for your study time devoted to Spanish, you enter SL and teleport into Spanish Island 1. You find yourself on Main Street along with a number of other avatars; like you, many of them are learning Spanish; the ones that are not learning Spanish are native speakers from Spanish speaking countries around the physical world enjoying the opportunity to help others learn their native language.
You notice a fantastic variety of locations in which avatars may visit and converse in Spanish. Many of the locations are like those typically role-played in Spanish classrooms: bakery, grocery store, meat market, library, school, and bus station. However, there’s also a sports bar, a dance club, a wine garden, a restaurant, a coffee house, a bookstore, and a live music venue featuring Spanish-speaking performers.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to engage native speakers in a relaxed, authentic environment: virtually-based immersion learning.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...History: Marie Antoinette in SL
Jan 22nd
Info Island II announced an event relevant to History classrooms. The event will be Friday, January 26th and Saturday, January 27th – both at 6pm PST. The description of the event . . .
Marie Antoinette, Queen of France in the 18th century, who was beheaded before the French Revolution, will visit Second life Library and the “Throne Room” on Info Island II . . . Marie will tell her story and introduce you to the people in her life during 18th century France. A young woman born at the wrong place at the wrong time, she will share her story from her point of view in an eighteenth century French environment with life size pictures of the people in her life. Contact Lorelei Junot for more information.
This event highlights two capabilities of Second Life of interest to real life educators. First, SL can credibly enhance role playing for educational purposes. I look forward to seeing, “hearing from” and perhaps interacting with a virtual representation of Marie Antoinette. Second, SL enhances the accessibility of subject matter experts; I’ve alluded to this capability before, but it can be summarized in this instance with a question, “How often do college or K-12 classrooms have access to an individual with enough in depth knowledge to assume the persona of a historical figure?” Not often, so I hope the event takes advantage of the opportunity to truly underscore the unique capabilities of SL in real life educational environments.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...WebQuests become Second Life Quests
Jan 17th
How many WebQuests exist on the web? I imagine that number is quite large, and the collection of existing WebQuests can be an incredible resource for applying Second Life technology to enhance learning spaces. San Diego State University illustrates the possibilities in their SL Meadowbrook campus through a SL/Virtual/3D rendering of a webquest published by Lubbock ISD called Meet the Immigrants.
The information card accompanying the location indicates that the space is: an example of adapting a WebQuest to a 3D virtual environment. It is designed for learners to access in two class periods. Class period 1: Log on, orient themselves and choose which immigrant character type they are going to research. (Independent internet research on chosen roles). Class period 2: Log on, get files and become that character and join in a round table discussion around the central campfire, synthesizing and comparing the experiences of various immigrant populations throughout United States history.
The SL Quest version of this exercise presents a virtual diorama with four different settler groups represented by a male and female avatar standing in front of their respective “home” positioned around a central campfire: Chinese Immigrants, New Mexico Conquistadors, Oregon Trail Settlers, and Pilgrims. Each of the eight avatars includes an Avatar-Giver script which allows any visiting user to physically transform “themselves” into a respective settler including avatar shape, hair, and clothing.
This virtual transformation of an existing instructional strategy may enhance the learning process in a couple of ways. First, the virtual diorama further assists learners with the visualization process which increases the salient qualities of the experience. Second, the added visualization also makes the role play more authentic as learners assume virtual costumes as they participate in the campfire discussions. And, of course, the second life version also further enables: additional enhancements to the 3D environment, distance learning, out-of-class engagement and collaborative opportunities with learners beyond the local classroom.
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